Bond of Trust

There have been many responses to the shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary in the past week. I have been unable to process what happened, and I'm nowhere near being able to definitively say anything substantive. I find that when I am unable describe how I feel, it is helpful for me to turn to songs.

I love music, but I'm not that good at writing it. I rely on others to write the music, but I find myself typing out lyrics without a second thought. The only response I have been able to come up with in the light of such violence and despair is this hymn. I had in mind the Sacred Harp song Windham when I wrote it, but the scheme is 8.8.8.8., so it could be applied to other songs.

To me, it is a psalm of lament, but I found it ending on the basest form of hope I can find: God's presence in the midst of pain.

Bond of Trust

Our hearts and souls they seem to ache,

When we such horrors witness bear,

The bonds of trust they start to break,

Lives tossed aside without a care.

How can there be such senseless death?

Why must our tears so freely fall?

We cry to God with all our breath,

And hear no comfort when we call.

My hope on nothing seems to rest,

my strength begins to give away,

In all the pain I try my best,

But terror is what now holds sway.

Though stranded and alone we feel,

As though beyond all sort of aide,

Our Lord has promised presence real,

In pain and woe, when we're afraid.

To the Lord's presence tight I hold,

When nothing else have I to do.

Through the valley of shadow cold,

Only my God can pull me through.

©Matt Drumheller 2012